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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Valentine Love

Happy almost Valentine's Day! For my blog post this month I went back in time...WAY back to when my husband and I were dating for a couple of throwback photos. I put those together with texture, Pan Pastels, a few hearts, a painted canvas, and (of course) my favorite Delight! Air Dry Modeling Compound.

Over the summer I experimented with acrylic flow painting and a variety of ways to create the "flow". It took 3 attempts and a large number of canvases to get my mix "just right", but in the end I was thrilled with the canvases. I went to my stash of painted canvases for the base of this project and found the perfect one!

As I looked at the canvas I knew I wanted wording on it. Bless my man's heart, he surprised me with a Cricut Maker for Christmas. I knew it was about time to open the box and experiment (yes, it took me THAT long!). After learning the basics and going through a bit of frustration (thank you Leticia for all the hand holding!), I was able to create the perfect saying for my canvas.

NOTE 1: I would NOT suggest starting out with something this difficult, but then I am known for jumping in with both feet. NOTE 2: If you don't have a Cricut the saying can be added with sharpie directly to the canvas OR printed on vellum and attached to the canvas OR printed and decoupaged to the canvas (this option will cover the painted background though)

With my saying firmly attached to the canvas it was time to start the clay work. This is my FAVORITE part!! Delight Air Dry is my go to choice when it comes to "quick & easy" projects (not counting the canvas and Cricut experiments 😉). I pulled out a few tools to work with:

1) texture (a rubber stamp sheet and a favorite leather stamp)

2) Pan Pastels

3) a couple of heart cutters

4) a knife/cutting tool of some sort

5) and (of course) Delight Air Dry Modeling Compound

Pull off a bit of clay and flatten it with an acrylic roller or rolling pin or pasta machine (I have all 3 in my studio). Once flattened, impress with the texture.

Cut out a heart (whatever size needed to frame the chosen photo elements).

Use the knife (unless you have a larger heart cutter) to cut around the heart, creating a small frame once the inner heart is lifted out.

Remove the inner heart and set aside. Place frame around photo element and trace the outer edge with a pencil/pen/marker. Remove the clay frame and cut out photo.

The texture of the frame is highlighted by rubbing a bit of Pan Pastel over the top. For this step remember to use a light touch and little bits of the pastels! I had a small amount fall into the embedded texture...a quick "blow" removed it.

I repeated the process (flatten, cut, texture, pastel) with additional clay. This piece was textured with one of my favorite leather stamps.

(Oh my goodness, we were young!!)

Now to arrange the components on the canvas.

I thought it looked a little heavy. It needed a little something else. I removed both solid hearts, used a tiny heart cutter and cut out the insides of each.

First I switched the insides

That looked nice, but still a little "heavy" when placed on the canvas. So I decided to open them up. After a bit of experimentation with the arrangement, I stopped with a mix of open hearts and solid hearts. I let the components dry in place. Once dry they were glued down (any glue will work but my favorite is Aleene's "The Ultimate! tacky glue).

I hope you have enjoyed this functional art piece. You have enough time to create one of your own for last minute gift giving! Have a beautiful Valentine's Day with your significant other. See you next month!